Kai heard a familiar celebratory trumpeting noise. The last time he heard that — civilisation ended. The sound made his blood run cold, and he froze mid-step. Since he’d taken his pants off, the sudden stop caused his unmentionables to sway in the dank air.
A memory forger has recognised the creation of a unique soul or aura trait and has deemed it worthy of inclusion into the system.
Kai slowly raised a finger into the air, as if to ask a question. He had several. Is someone watching me? Is this a trap? A notification popped up.
Would you like to meet with memory forger Arcturus and Hafez?
2 minutes remaining
Yes / No
Memory forger? His heart thumped. He wasn’t sure if the situation would be dangerous. Did meeting mean it was a conversation? What exactly did inclusion mean, wasn’t everything part of the system already?
Either way, he felt he had to seize the opportunity. Perhaps they could restore the rest of his memories or share information about what was going on. He also somewhat trusted the system at this point in terms of its rules. Though he was nervous of the possibility that inclusion meant killing him to include his ability. Even then he felt the risk was worth the possible reward.
I’m just a fledgling among infinite worlds and can hardly be considered important, right?
Kai fidgeted before he chose yes.
Relocating to Memory Forge M9164244
3…
Kai watched as a river of light — aura he now realised — formed a familiar pillar that encapsulated him.
2…
My clothes! He scrambled to pull up his pants.
1…
The next moment, Kai was gazing up at a starry night sky. Dozens of azure rivers streaked with gold spiralled down from the heavens into a luminescent lake. He stood before it; the lush grass tickling his feet was delightful.
Emerging from the lake to tower before him was a storm-blue being. Its primordial hide shimmered with crystals and rock formations. In a way that reminded him of the Starforger. In a distant relative sort of way. Its mere presence was enchanting, and his mind grew foggy, or maybe it was from blood loss. Kai’s eyes lingered on the ethereal collar around the being’s neck. The mountainous being reached down, revealing a clear crystal in the palm of its giant hand.
Arcturus — ???
What… is happening? Kai clutched his head. The bad feeling blossoming in his chest abruptly withered, leaving him with no concerns at all.
“Greetings!” an upbeat voice chimed.
Kai sluggishly looked around for the source of the voice in his disorientated state.
He squinted at a portly gentleman with bronze skin in a turban. Crystals and alchemy equipment surrounded a luxurious abode with a plethora of cushions and fine silk throws.
“A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Kai, I am Hafez.” Kai didn’t even have the presence of mind to inspect the man, like he had Arcturus.
“Please focus on the crystal and pour your memories of…” His fingers swiped through the air. “Ah, ‘The Way of the Flowing Hand’ into it. This will complete the process,” Hafez said animatedly, his turban almost sliding off as his head gestured towards Arcturus’s hand.
“If you would be so kind,” Hafez said, smiling curtly.
Kai hesitated as he reached out. …This feels wrong. What if I lose my trait?
The aura lake heaved like a cosmic storm. “Make haste, mortal,” thundered Arcturus.
Thoughts bubbled to the surface of his mind, popping before he could string them together cohesively.
Frazzled, Kai lurched forward and nervously focussed on the crystal.
“Arcturus can forge crystals that contain memories of how your path started, and some of your aura trait insights,” Hafez said, resting his hands on his portly tummy.
Kai witnessed in his mind once more how he had created his aura trait, along with years of training that flashed through his mind. Immediately forgotten and lost once more. Apparently, they could access memories he couldn’t. So they are there? Kai clutched his throbbing head as he stumbled back from the revelation.
“Though it’s practically worthless until you make something of yourself, I will sell copies of this crystal across the universe,” Hafez said, clapping his hands excitedly. His belly jiggled. “You will receive ten percent of the profits as aura crystals for each person who follows your path.”
Kai frowned in confusion. “Follows my path… what does that mean?”
Hafez grumbled, “For the most part, it means that someone purchased your aura trait during a discovery.”
Hafez made an odd gesture with his hands.
Hafez has offered you a deal: In exchange for sole distribution rights, you have been offered ten percent of the profits as crystals.
Accept: Yes / No
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Kai’s conscious rumbled as Kura awoke. She roared with the power of an ancient dragon unearthing itself to defend her treasure hoard. Her raw fury pushed back his confusion in tidal waves of gold and crystal. Kura bared her fangs and growled. Kai raised his eyebrow quizzically toward her as he shook his head, his senses sharpened.
Thanks for the wake-up call.
The portly merchant leaned sideways with annoyance to peer at the treasure ring. Kai missed the flicker of fear on Hafez’s face while he was rubbing his bleary eyes. Ever the professional, Hafez’s sales mask returned in a flash.
“Twenty percent,” Hafez said.
“Grrrrr.”
“Thirty-five percent,” Hafez growled back.
“GRRRRR!”
“Fifty percent, final offer!” Hafez shouted, red-faced at the ring, ignoring Kai completely.
Happy happy.
By this point Kai’s mind was mostly clear thanks to Kura flooding him with tidal waves of golden greed — and he realised this was a shakedown. Could they choose what information he saw to an extent? Showing him the sales pitch that would get him to say yes to meeting them? Dangling the memory forger in front of him. His nostrils flared. He was about to let loose when Kura interrupted him.
Hate Merchant.
But eat eat.
Kura urged Kai to look behind him.
Kai turned his head and his breath caught in his throat. Nestled into a titanic rib bone that jutted from endless sand, rose a city of gold and white. Pristine towers tipped with crystal domes pierced the sky.
It wasn’t only riches that caught his attention, but the bone. How old must that primal have been to reach a size that an entire city could be built upon a single rib?
Hafez snorted. “In case there’s larceny burdening your heart, let me lighten the load. That’s the most heavily guarded merchant order in this sector. Two Monarchs did assault it once, hence the endless desert.” Hafez said while he scratched his chin.
Kai stared in awe. The vast scale of the universe blew his mind, perhaps impossible to fully explore. Yet, in that moment, he wanted nothing more than to explore it.
“Sorry about the mind numbing, can never be too careful these days,” Hafez said, more covering up than being genuine.
Kai considered rejecting the deal out of principle and spite. They had circumvented the system slightly by messing with his mind. It was probably easier to snag the memories of someone while the creator was young and ignorant, before their path or heritage was worth anything.
He wasn’t absolutely sure selling copies of his aura trait for crystals was the best idea. What gave him pause was knowing that Altair Sol must have done it at some point. Was it a significant source of crystals if you were worth following? A way to grow stronger? Or as Kura said, eat.
He was a little uneasy about being less special in a way. However if each integration was unique, then selling aura traits made sense; it would be a way for people from other integrations to gain aura traits they would otherwise not have access to. It meant he’d also have access to others’ traits, and he could fuse them and make them his own. Just like others could do with his. He nodded to himself. Fair is fair.
At least Hafez’s deal didn’t account for his soul or his other aura traits or vital traits and how he used them. Kai remembered watching Altair Sol in the heritage crystal mindscape; he was sure he hadn’t gained the exact same aura traits there either. So his path would still be unique.
He was leaning towards saying yes. What clinched the deal was Kura driving up the amount of crystals he’d receive and the thought of his obliterated monastery’s teachings possibly spreading across the universe.
“Deal,” Kai said with a smile, glad to have fleeced the pompous merchant.
Thanks, Kura, you're amazing!
Kura lapped up the praise and sent him an image of herself as a dragon, settling down upon a heap of glistening crystals. Kai had gotten caught up in the moment and was gently stroking the ring. He stopped once he caught himself, thinking nothing of his abnormal behaviour as he reined in his emotions. The effects of whatever was jumbling his mind completely gone. Kai gave Hafez a dirty glare, only to receive a what-you-going-to-do-about-it shrug back.
Achievement: Aura Hunter
Details: Create a new aura trait.
Reward: Discover an aura trait each time your soul reaches a higher grade.
Rarity: Epic (6/1000)
Achievement: Aura Hunter II
Details: Sell a copy of your early memories as the first part of your heritage to a system-approved merchant (Universe U74).
Reward: 50% of profits, as per your deal with the merchant.
Rarity: Mythic (2/100)
These achievements were probably why people did this if they could. He felt a little weird about selling his aura, but it was a great boon, yet he was still irritable, he’d missed the apex bonus for Aura Hunter II by one. Who are all these crazy strong people?
“I take it you require profits to be placed directly in your spatial ring… Kura?” Hafez said.
“Where else could they go?” Kai said, wondering how Hafez could discern the name.
Hafez sighed. “Taken advantage of by a newborn. You would have to manually collect it from an aura river nexus — see these in the sky?” Hafez pointed dryly.
Kai bore a frustrated expression. You pompous goat turd.
He recalled the one he’d seen on the sky island. Was it like some kind of cosmic highway? “Yes, the ring, please.”
“Very well,” Hafez said, waving his hand as a crystal sandstone sculpture that resembled Kai rose from the ground. The statue’s materials looked similar to the one’s he’d seen underwater, just not as ancient looking.
Hafez pointed at the sculpture with his pudgy fingers. “This is you, well — this is what others across the universe will see. How would you like to advertise?”
Kai circled the statue of himself with skepticism. It was shirtless, but at least the statue had shredded pants. He struck a water-barrel slapping pose, and the sand mirrored him. Hafez crossed his arms, his lips puckering up as if he’d sucked on a lemon, which made Kai grin.
“You’d get more sales if you looked more… exciting!” Hafez said, his hands making a rainbow gesture.
Kai pressed down on his irritation as he rotated through stances before inspiration struck from a favourite story of his.
The story of Atlas. His cheeks reddened as he settled into what he considered a heroic pose. Raising both hands above his head, sandstone swirled from the ground, sculpting Earth. Cracks formed as he plunged his fingers into the sandstone planet pressing upon his shoulders.
“How’s this?”
“Excellent, sir!” Hafez said with a wide smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
The sand turned into dark hard crystal as an engraving beneath appeared: ‘The gravity of dripping water wears away all stone in its path’ — Kai Allan, Earth.
He felt weird… embarrassment and pride warred within him upon seeing his name immortalised in sandstone. Would it change as he grew? Would anyone ever see it? How long had the statues he found been underwater, or on other worlds? Honestly, he didn’t feel like anyone worthy of being followed and doubted anything would come from this.
“With that, we are done. Have a pleasant day further,” Hafez said, as he made a twirling motion with his finger.
Relocating to Earth U74E000675
“Wait, p-please — I have questions!”
3…
“Is Arcturus okay? Can he restore memories?” Kai blurted out.
Arcturus paused as he waded into the effervescent lake, the ethereal collar around his neck glowing brighter for a moment.
2…
Hafez grinned, waving goodbye with just his fingertips.
1…